In other words, under our model, both the sample means and actual ratings provide unbiased estimates of the true preference, corresponding to either top or bottom, but not center of Figure REF .
This finding contrasts heavily with how previous work has approached the bandwagon effect as a bias problem [1]}, [2]}, [3]}, [4]}, [5]}, [6]}, [7]}, [8]} and similarly, how learning from user interactions is generally also framed as a bias problem [9]}, [10]}, [11]}, [12]}, [13]}, [14]}, [15]}, [16]}, [17]}, [18]}.
The bandwagon effect may be seen as an increased impact of earlier interactions on the estimate of the item's relevance. However, in contrast with selection bias, there is no predetermined rating value that is disproportionally represented for the purposes of average relevance estimation or loss minimization.
